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The Movies

And The Winner Is...
This warmer is designed to be done before the U.S. Academy Awards. It gets students to practice arguing for or against something, to discuss choices, and to express opinions.Pre-Intermediate Lesson Updated: 11 February 2017

A Harry Potter "LARP"
Clad in robes and pointed hats, would-be sorcerers wave their wands and cast spells as they hone their magic skills at their very own College of Wizardry. Role playing witches and wizards in Poland or visiting Diagon Alley in Florida are two of the opportunities available to Harry Potter fans. (Live action role playing, Harry Potter, amusement parks, Hogwarts.)Upper-Intermediate

Child Stars
Three years after a popular TV talent show launched child soprano Jackie Evancho on a meteoric career, she still has no singing coach, can't read music and sticks to a modest rehearsal routine. As she makes the transition to professional artist, Evancho, is seeking to balance her school work - and play time - with a busy concert tour schedule and recording her sixth album. (Singing, Jackie Evancho, child stars.)Advanced

Beauty Treatments?
Hollywood stars wanting to look their best for Tinseltown's biggest night of the year are being offered beauty treatments ranging from the lavish to plain loony such as $250,000 black diamond nail varnish and bird excrement facials. (Beauty treatments and products, influence of consumers on manufacturers, zero conditionals.)Upper-Intermediate

Annoying Noises
Which noise is more distracting - a child whining or a table saw? Making a noise while unwrapping a lolly at the movies can't be helped! (Whining and children, scientific research, unwrapping candies in theaters, referencing, adverbs) Upper-Intermediate

Effects of Rom Coms?
Romantic comedies might provide 90 minutes of light-hearted fun but the happy-ever-after movies are also impacting people's real love lives, according to an Australian survey and a study in college dating suggests that American males enjoy teary, romantic "women's films" more than they are letting on. (Romantic comedies, differences between men and women, movie genres.)Upper-Intermediate

Being Hollywood's Super Couple
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie talk in separate interviews on their family and plans for the future. (Famous movie stars, families, fame, second conditional, essay.)Intermediate

Smoking in the Movies
Young children may be influenced to start smoking through exposure to movie characters who smoke, researchers suggest.(Hollywood,children, movie stars as role models, smoking, marketing, predicting, choose the best answer, crossword, verb + to + infinitive or verb + -ing, 'what would you do?' quiz about lying, expressing opinions.)
Intermediate

Real-life Avatar
A world away from Hollywood in remote eastern India the story of Avatar is being played out. Avatar tells the story of the Na'vi whose existence is threatened by a mining corporation which wants to exploit mineral deposits beneath a giant sacred tree. In India's state of Orissa, indigenous tribespeople are battling to stop Vedanta Resources from extracting bauxite from their sacred mountain. (Religion, environment, sharing information, making a diagram, timeline, discussion.)Advanced

Wiggly Entertainment
Greg Page, the yellow Wiggle, has announced that he will retire from the Wiggles because of illness. Australia's top-selling children's phenomenon, a hyperactive band of preschool teachers, and a giggling dinosaur, has been extremely successful but now the group will be changing. (Children's entertainment, creating an image, brainstorming)Intermediate

Monster Rabbit
A "monster" rabbit has apparently been going through vegetable patches in a small village in northern England, ripping up leeks, munching turnips and angering local gardeners. Animals, bizarre but true stories, sorting words, comprehension, matching information, present perfect continuous, onomatopoeic words.)Pre-Intermediate

Move Over, Karaoke
Frustrated actors have a new outlet for their creative urges that until now was only available to their singing cousins -- Movieoke, Karaoke's cinematic sibling. (Movieoke, entertainment, skimming, comprehension, completing a flowchart, true, false or not given, guessing vocabulary using the context, a,an,the, checking a summary, matching game - famous lines from movies, survey.) Intermediate

Last of LOTR
Peter Jackson, director of "The Lord Of The Rings" said he was sad but also relieved that the mammoth project he has worked on for seven years was over. Jackson made movie history by filming all three parts of the "Rings" trilogy simultaneously. ("The Lord Of The Rings", Gollum, computer animation, acting, the Oscars, expressing an opinion, reading and note-taking, preparing questions, interviewing, role-playing, complete the sentences game - movies, idioms, adjectives - expressing emotions.)Advanced

New Age Cinema
Bawling babies have ruined films for countless moviegoers but now one New York cinema is filling an entire theater with them in an effort to win the business of stir-crazy parents who haven't gone out in years. (Cinemas, moviegoing habits, parenting and babies, what would you do, categorizing words, true or false, reading for details, meanings from context, conjunctions (and, but, so, because) find someone who..., describing a scene, present continuous tense, design project.)Pre-Intermediate

No-Frills Cinema
The world's first no-frills cinema is opening in Britain promising tickets from just 20 pence -- but with no popcorn or blockbuster movies on show. (Cinemas and movies, quick survey, gap fill, choosing a headline, scanning, true or false, have to..., brainstorming, movie crossword, peer dictation.)Intermediate

Caged In
A popular Indian film actor crammed himself into a tiny cage and asked for compassion for chickens as part of a "Compassion, Not Cages - Go Veg!" campaign by an international animal rights group. (Animal rights, vegetarians, protest, farming, 'so' linking two clauses.)Elementary to Pre-Intermediate

A Moviemakers' Paradise
New Zealand, where the Lord of the Rings films were shot, is spending millions of dollars promoting itself as a movie makers' paradise, as well as encouraging tourists to come and see where Lord of the Rings was filmed: "New Zealand is Middle Earth,'' says actor Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo. (New Zealand, movie making, movies, prepositions.)
Upper-Intermediate to Advanced

Ring's Rave Reviews
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' and "The Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring," both films set in a fantasy world of magic, wizards and young heroes, have been crossing swords at the box office. Critics gave "Harry Potter" five stars. What did they give "Lord of the Rings"? (Movies, critics, movie ratings, movie vocabulary, "as...as" used to make comparisons, playing charades.)Upper-Intermediate

Life imitating art?
It was like life imitating art when a woman, who collapsed at a screening of "Thirteen Conversations About One Thing,'' was rescued by the movie's star, Matthew McConaughey. (Movies, movie stars, 20 questions, ordering, grammar dictation, use of "who".)Pre-Intermediate

Stunt Animals
As an employee looking after stunt animals on movie sets, this woman was called upon to even protect a cockroach! (Hollywood, animal protection, movies, articles)
Advanced

Meeting an Actor
"It's not every day you get a Hollywood superstar phoning you when you're doing the housework". (Dustin Hoffman, famous people, taxi drivers, actors, articles)
Pre-Intermediate

A Child's View
Movie star Jamie Lee Curtis believes children will be a focus in her life when she quits acting and everyone should see the world from a small child's point of view. (Fame, doing worthwhile things, sentences, making notes.)Upper-Intermediate

Academy Rewards
Academy Award organizers have come up with a novel idea for avoiding those boring Oscar acceptance speeches filled with "thank yous." Their solution: have the winners give two speeches--a short one and a long one. (Academy Awards, speeches.)Intermediate